Sustainability
The Dress Room was brought to life with both our community in our hearts and our planet front and centre. We're proud to provide a service that supports our members in leading a more mindful way of life by giving them and alternative and accessible way to enjoy fashion.
We're not perfect, but we're committed to doing our part to bring about circularity and tread lightly on the planet we call home.
You can read a comprehensive report of our efforts to-date below. Watch this space, there's more to come.
Repair & resell
We're 100% committed to extending the life of our rental garments through gentle treatment and washing practices. We encourage our members to treat each piece with love as if it was their own.
When minor damage occurs our team of talented seamstresses are on hand to bring items back to life. In the unusual case that a garment is damaged beyond repair, it's saved to mend future garments with spare components such as zips, buttons and fabric swatches. This accounts for less than 1% of garments to date.
At the end of their life as a rental, our gently worn garments are made available for sale on Designer Wardrobe's Marketplace, as part of our Reloved collection.
Washing & garment care
We pride ourselves on taking extra special care of our rentals to ensure they're able to be loved for longer. As part of our garment care process, we've invested in top-quality commercial washing machines from Miele, which enable us to gently, yet efficiently clean many of our beautiful rentals in-house.
Their innovative machines are gentler on garments, kinder to our planet and deliver a perfectly fresh finish, every time.
Since the company began in 1899, Miele has worked tirelessly to deliver world-leading technology, incorporating sustainable practices into their business every step of the journey from design to manufacture. Using recyclable materials and a minimalist approach, the end result consumes less power and water due to its efficient drum rib technology, patented wash rhythm and high spin efficiency.
"The world is changing around us. People are becoming much more mindful of their
environmental footprint and the damage that's already been done. We're excited to
be a part of the solution in the shift towards building a circular economy"
— Donielle Brooke / Founder
Reusable fabric courier bags
Our custom-made reusable courier bags are used on repeat, preventing thousands of single-use plastic bags from finding their way to landfill every year. They safely pack and deliver over 90% of our rentals, with the remainder being sent in compostable courier bags.
Once they become worn or damaged, they're destined to be recycled into polyester pellets by our recycling partner and fed back into the economy for reuse.
Drycleaning partner
An important part of our journey has always been finding partners who share our values, so we've teamed up with Regal to ensure that the 5% of our rentals that are "dry clean only" receive the specialist care they need to last.
Regal are proud to be New Zealand's first carbon-zero drycleaners and they're committed to investing in methods that are both kinder to the planet and gentler on garments. Read more about Regal's sustainability efforts here.
All deliveries between Regal and ourselves are also packaging-free and coat hangers are returned for reuse.